Notes from the remotest place on Earth: father and son voyage to Point Nemo

Chris Brown, 62, from North Yorkshire, is on a mission to visit all eight of the world’s ‘poles of inaccessibility’ — the places furthest from the sea or land
Chris Brown, a businessman from Yorkshire, with his son, Mika, at Point Nemo, the remotest point in the world’s oceans
Chris Brown, a businessman from Yorkshire, with his son, Mika, at Point Nemo, the remotest point in the world’s oceans

For 21 days, all Chris Brown has seen — and will see for days to come — is miles upon miles of water. “I’m looking out now, across the ocean, and all I can see is sea,” he said.

The 62-year-old tech entrepreneur from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is on the return voyage from Point Nemo, the part of the South Pacific Ocean furthest from land, roughly midway between New Zealand and Chile.

It is so remote that when the International Space Station passes overhead, the astronauts on board are the closest humans.

“All I can see is sea”, said Brown on board his chartered boat, more than 1,600 miles from land
“All I can see is sea”, said Brown on board his chartered boat, more than 1,600 miles from land
JAM PRESS/CHRIS BROWN

While travelling to such an isolated location is for many the stuff of nightmares, it is a dream for Brown, who has set himself a mission to be the first person to reach